While a North Vancouver Minor Hockey Association team practised Monday at Harry Jerome rec centre a thief was busy loading their valuables into a hockey bag inside their locker room.
Just minutes after players hit the ice, a late-arriving teammate realized the dressing room had been hit.
Apparently, the thief loaded a goalie equipment bag with the stolen items, which included wallets, smartphones, clothing and car keys.
The thief, or thieves, then used one of the sets of keys to steal a SUV parked nearby that one of the players had borrowed from his mother to drive to practice.
Lawrence Smyth, president of North Vancouver Minor Hockey Association, said all teams have been warned following the incident.
“We are warning our teams about being diligent at all facilities we work with, we work with three (home ice) facilities as well as visiting arenas,” he said. “As much as you might think that there is security or the dressing room is in sight it happens, unfortunately.”
Smyth said this isn’t the first time thieves have targeted dressing rooms.
“I would say it’s not unique to this facility,” he said. “I think it happens all over. I think it’s based on opportunity, complacency, and people just thinking that it’s fine. Unfortunately, you don’t tend to react until something like this happens.”
Smyth said the team that was robbed on Monday is not leaving anything valuable in the dressing room anymore.
The RCMP is investigating the theft.
“There were a lot of thefts,” said North Van RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Richard De Jong. “There were eight victims. Everything you could imagine – all the phones and house keys, they just took whatever was in the locker room.”
One of the stolen phones was pinged and shown to be located in downtown Vancouver, De Jong said.
“We quickly alerted VPD; they did a search of an intersection that had like 200 people so they checked a few people. The credit cards were used as well around midnight (to purchase gas) downtown. So we know that whoever did this beelined right to downtown.”
The stolen vehicle was abandoned and located Thursday morning in Vancouver.
Currently there’s video surveillance in and around the lobby of the rink and the team rooms at Harry Jerome rec centre, said Anne Rodgers of the North Vancouver Recreation and Culture Commission.
“Teams are also advised to bring their own locks for team rooms, and that something that’s clearly communicated by our rental booking staff,” she added.
Rodgers said the facility’s maintenance staff are also always moving throughout the building and watching for any suspicious behaviour.
Since the theft earlier this week, Rodgers said the rec commission has put up additional signage reminding the public to lock up their valuables and report suspicious activity to staff. Additional staff are also doing extra walk-throughs.
De Jong said it’s important for people to break the habit of bringing valuables to public places. “Those sorts of valuables should be left in the trunk of your car or left at home. You are in a public place, this isn’t your home, and you can be the victim of somebody who is going to break into your locker and it’s preventable.”
